The redistricting plan stinks

Register Editorial

March 3, 2012

We have to add our voice to those who are complaining about the recent redistricting plan for the state that was created by a panel of judges.

After every census, conducted every 10 years, the national congressional districts and state legislative districts are redrawn so that each district is composed of the same number of voters or at least close.

The process started with both political parties presenting plans on what they thought would be fair.

Then, a special committee composed of five judges, adjusted the plans and created their own, still trying to be as fair as possible.

While some are upset with the plan as being much too political, ours is based purely on common sense.

Or the lack thereof.

The plan was released last week, complete with a map that outlines where the new district lines are. The state press made a big deal over the district represented by Michele Bachmann and how she will now have some competition.

Some say the whole plan smacks too much of 'gerrymandering,' a ploy to change the state's legislative district lines to give one political party or the other an advantage.

We don't know about that.

But, we sure question the logic of continuing to split Faribault County.

In the past, all the county residents had Julie Rosen as our senator. The western third of the county had Bob Gunther as a representative, the eastern two thirds had Tony Cornish.

That was a bad enough split.

Now, however, it is worse.

The western two thirds of the county now has Gunther as the representative and Rosen as senator.

But, the eastern one third (Wells, Walters and Kiester areas) are part of the district encompassing Freeborn and Mower counties.

Those Faribault County residents now are represented by a state representative from Albert Lea and a state senator from Austin.

Does this make any sense whatsoever?

What makes it worse is that Gunther and Rosen needed more territory in their district (to be fair population wise) so the judges gave them half of Jackson County.

Hello?

Why not just give them all of Faribault County and a smaller portion of Jackson. That seems to make a lot of sense to us. Seems purely logical. Why split both Faribault and Jackson counties?

Faribault County already has an invisible line down the center of it. Making part of the county go way west for representation and the other part way east is border line ridiculous.

And it won't be very helpful in trying to get the county's residents to work together on the many issues facing all of us.